Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

The dragon landed. Its four limbs shook the earth and when it lowered its head, the wind seemed to still.

One would have expected the breath of a dragon to smell of sulfur, blood, and burnt flesh, and yet it was just as sweet as the air of this Crystal Mountain.

The maw of the Crystal Dragon opened and a low, grumbling roar echoed. Its gaze moved from Ryu to Selheira, then back again before focusing on Selheira entirely.

Selheira lowered her head, but at the very least, her trembling seemed to stop.

The dragon probably didn't expect it, but Ryu wasn't as ignorant to their language as one would expect. Of course, Ryu was a bit unfortunate in this regard as well, because his comprehension of Dragon Tongue wasn't refined enough to understand this vastly different dialect-at least not entirely.

Sacrum was one matter, but the True Martial World was clearly cut from a different cloth. That said... he had his own methods.

His irises dilated and spun with twin eight trigram diagrams. The stilled wind picked back up slightly, and suddenly the Crystal Dragon looked back toward him. Ryu, however, was focused on translating.

"Selheira, you've returned... And who is this?"

Ryu felt that he got the gist of it. He connected with something inside of him and seemed to stir up some lingering deep inside him.

He opened his mouth, but then he shook his head. If he tried to speak now he would just end up ripping his throat apart and spitting up blood. The Dragons were very particular about their language, and their methods of speaking put extreme amounts of stress on the body. Let alone his throat, he might very well shred his internal organs apart as well.

He sighed and then activated his Fire Dragon Bloodline, but time he focused the manifestation of his scales on the inside of his body, coating his throat and inner organs. This usually happened anyway, but this time he activated it alone without the external changes.

Then, he opened his mouth and roared.

Dragon Tongue coming from Ryu was nowhere near as gentle as the low growl of the Crystal Dragon. It was aggressive, loud, and abrasive.

It was the tone of a Fire Dragon, and it presented itself as such.

The slit pupils of the Crystal Dragon narrowed as the skies rumbled and shook.

"My name is Ryu Tatsuya, Selheira's husband."

The Crystal Dragon looked him up and down, a motion that was hardly registered considering the size of its eyes were taller than even Ryu's body.

Selheira looked over at Ryu, not really expecting him to be able to speak in Dragon Tongue. She sighed a breath of relief when he didn't suddenly implode, then she felt a bit guilty for thinking so lowly of him.

She was his woman, she should have 100% confidence in him.

"... You are human."

"Yes."

"But you speak as a Fire Dragon would."

"I speak as I would."

"Spoken like a Fire Dragon," the Crystal Dragon chuckled.

Ryu didn't respond, but he didn't find the interaction interesting. The tone of the Dragon he was now quite certain was a man was gentle and soothing, but his choice of words were layered and clever in a way only someone of deep wisdom.

"Not a Fire Dragon," Selheira growled out, her brows furrowing with unhappiness.lightsnovel

The Crystal Dragon's gaze softened and chortled out an agreement, but this only seemed to make Selheira more uncomfortable.

Ryu watched the interaction silently. He wasn't used to dealing with situations like this.

Suddenly, he realized that he was very good at being aggressive, but when it came to the soft approach... he was woefully unprepared.

Selheira wasn't some cast-off, nor was she being humiliated by her family, they didn't even seem enraged that she had gotten married behind her back.

It would have been so easy if this Crystal Dragon came out with rage and fury, ready to burn Ryu to a crisp and snatch Selheira away... but that wasn't the situation here.

Ryu sighed and pinched his eyebrows. He didn't find himself being annoyed by the situation anymore, but rather himself. Did he really only have one gear?

It felt pathetic.

... Spoken like a Fire Dragon ...

"May I know who you are?" Ryu asked.

The Crystal Dragon seemed a bit surprised this time, but then smiled.

"I am Lysander, Selheira's father. My wife is in seclusion for now, otherwise, she would have never missed this chance to see our little girl after so long. Does that answer your question?"

Lysander's gaze seemed to have a meaningful hint of something else.

Ryu understood the implication. He was wondering whether Ryu was asking about his name or asking about his status...

Ryu, though, wasn't thinking so deeply. He was just trying to steer the conversation away from this current rut.

Lysander's amusement seemed to deepen. At the same time, he relaxed, almost as though he had seen through Ryu entirely.

The dragon opened his mouth to speak again, but then taking a glance at his daughter, he realized that he'd get scolded again if he said what he wanted to say. So, he chuckled instead.

"You are better than I would have hoped. My daughter has good eyesight."

Ryu didn't even know how to respond to this. The dragon seemed to get too much of a kick out of his discomfort.

"Come. I believe this mountain, while being a hellish trap for my daughter, will actually do you quite good. And you, Selheira... you may gain more from this than you know as well. It will depend on yourself."

Lysander leapt into the air and the two were taken with him by some mysterious energy.

lightsΝοvεl ƈοm Selheira was taken aback. Her reflex was to disregard her father's words, but this was the first time he had said such a thing...

But that was the thing with Crystal Dragons, even when you were being manipulated... you would never know.

For all she knew, he had waited all this time for this moment in specific...

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Erdiul's Note: Wow, a non braindamaged father-in-law. Rare Awespec writing.

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